The West: Encounters & Transformations, Combined Volume

Designed for introductory-level survey courses in the History of Western Civilization.     The West: Encounters & Transformations takes a new approach to telling the story of Western civilization.   Rather than looking at Western civilization only as the history of Europe from ancient times to the present, this groundbreaking book examines the changing nature of the West—how the definition of the West has evolved and has been transformed throughout history. It explores the ways Western civilization has changed as a result of cultural encounters with different beliefs, ideas, technologies, and peoples, both outside the West and within it. Presenting a balanced treatment of political, social, religious, and cultural history, this text emphasizes the ever-shifting boundaries of the geographic and cultural realm of the West.

Table of Contents:
“What Is the West?” The Shifting Borders of the West Changing Identities within the West Western Values Asking the Right Questions 1. The Beginnings of Civilizations, 10,000-1150 B.C.E. Defining Civilization, Defining Western Civilization Mesopotamia: Kingdoms, Empires, and Conquests Egypt: The Empire of the Nile Conclusion: Civilization and the West 2. The Age of Empires: The International Bronze Age and its Aftermath, ca. 1500-550 B.C.E. The Dynamism of the International Bronze Age Recovery and Rebuilding: Empires and Societies in the Aftermath of the International Bronze Age The Civilization of the Hebrews Conclusion: International Systems, Ancient Empires, and the Roots of Western Civilization 3. Persians, Hebrews, and Greeks:  The Foundations of Western Culture, 1100-336 B.C.E. Greece Rebuilds, 1100—479 B.C.E. The Greek Encounter with Persia The Classical Age of Greece, 479—336 B.C.E. Conclusion: The Cultural Foundations of the West 4.  Hellenistic Civilization The Impact of Alexander the Great Hellenism in the East and West Hellenistic Society and Culture Hellenistic Philosophy and Science Conclusion: Defining the West in the Hellenistic Age   5.  The Roman Republic The Nature of the Roman Republic Roman Territorial Expansion The Culture of the Roman Republic Social Life in Republican Rome The End of the Roman Republic Conclusion: The Roman Republic and the West   6. Enclosing the West: The Early Roman Empire and Its Neighbors: 31 B.C.E.-235 C.E. The Imperial Center Life in the Roman Provinces: Assimilation, Resistance, and Romanization The Frontier and Beyond Society and Culture in the Imperial Age Conclusion: Rome Shapes the West 7. Late Antiquity: The Age of New Boundaries, 250-600. Crisis and Recovery in the Third Century Toward a Christian Empire New Christian Communities and Identities The Break-Up of the Roman Empire Conclusion: The Age of New Boundaries 8. Medieval Empires and Borderlands:  Byzantium and Islam Byzantium: The Survival of the Roman Empire The New World of Islam Conclusion: Three Cultural Realms   9. Medieval Empires and Borderlands: The Latin West The Birth of Latin Christendom The Carolingians Invasions and Recovery in the Latin West The West in the East:  The Crusades Conclusion: An Emerging Unity in the Latin West 10. Medieval Civilization:  The Rise of Western Europe Two Worlds:  Manors and Cities The Consolidation of Roman Catholicism Strengthening the Center of the West Medieval Culture: The Search for Understanding Conclusion: Asserting Western Culture 11. The Medieval West in Crisis A Time of Death A Cold Wind from the East Economic Depression and Social Turmoil An Age of Warfare A Troubled Church and the Demand for Religious Comfort The Culture of Loss Conclusion: Looking Inward   12. The Italian Renaissance and Beyond: The Politics of Culture The Cradle of the Renaissance: The Italian City-States The Influence of Ancient Culture The Early Modern European State System Conclusion: The Politics of Culture 13. The West and the World: The Significance of Global Encounters, 1450-1650 Europeans in Africa Europeans in the Americas Europeans in Asia The Beginnings of the Global System Conclusion: The Significance of the Global Encounters 14. The Reformation of Religion Causes of the Reformation The Lutheran Reformation The Diversity of Protestantism The Catholic Reformation Conclusion: Competing Understandings 15. The Age of Confessional Division The Peoples of Early Modern Europe Disciplining the People Hunting Witches The Confessional States States and Confessions in Eastern Europe Conclusion: The Divisions of the West 16. Absolutism and State-Building in Europe, 1618-1715 The Nature of Absolutism The Absolutist State in France and Spain Absolutism and State-Building in Central and Eastern Europe Resistance to Absolutism in England and the Dutch Republic Conclusion: The Western State in the Age of Absolutism   17. The Scientific Revolution The Discoveries and Achievements of the Scientific Revolution The Search for Scientific Knowledge The Causes of the Scientific Revolution The Intellectual Consequences of the Scientific Revolution Humans and the Natural World Conclusion: Science and Western Culture   18. The West and the World: Empire, Trade, and War, 1650-1815 European Empires in the Americas and Asia Warfare in Europe, North America, and Asia The Atlantic World Encounters between Europeans and Asians The Crisis of Empire and the Atlantic Revolutions Conclusion: The Rise and Reshaping of the West   19. Eighteenth-Century Society and Culture The Aristocracy Challenges to Aristocratic Dominance The Enlightenment The Impact of the Enlightenment Conclusion: The Enlightenment and Western Identity 20. The Age of the French Revolution, 1789-1815 The First French Revolution, 1789-1791 The French Republic, 1792-1799 Cultural Change in France During the Revolution The Napoleonic Era, 1799-1815 The Legacy of the French Revolution Conclusion: The French Revolution and Western Civilization   21. The Industrial Revolution The Nature of the Industrial Revolution Conditions Favoring Industrial Growth The Spread of Industrialization The Effects of Industrialization Industry, Trade, and Empire Conclusion: Industrialization and the West 22. Ideological Conflicts and National Unification, 1815-1871 New Ideologies in the Early Nineteenth Century Ideological Encounters in Europe, 1815-1848 National Unification in Europe and America, 1848-1871 International Conflict and Domestic Politics, 1853-1871 Conclusion: The Ideological Transformation in the West 23. The Coming of Mass Politics: Industrialization, Emancipation, and Instability, 1870-1914 Economic Transformation Defining the Political Nation Broadening the Political Nation Outside the Political Nation? The Experience of Women Conclusion: The West in an Age of Mass Politics 24. The West and the World: Cultural Crisis and the New Imperialism, 1870-1914 Scientific Transformations Cultural Crisis: The Fin de Siecle and the Birth of Modernism The New Imperialism Conclusion: Reshaping the West:  Expansion and Fragmentation 25. The First World War The Origins of the First World War The Experience of Total War The Home Fronts War and Revolution Conclusion: The War and the West 26. Reconstruction, Reaction, and Continuing Revolution—The 1920s and 1930s Cultural Despair and Desire Out of the Trenches: Reconstructing Nationalism and Gender Politics in the 1920s The Rise of the Radical Right The Polarization of Politics in the 1930s The West and the World:  Imperialism in the Interwar Era Conclusion: The Kingdom of Corpses 27. World War II The Coming of War Europe at War, 1939-1941 The World at War, 1941-1945 From Allied Defeat to Allied Victory The War Against the Jews The Home Front:  The Other Wars Conclusion: The New West: After Auschwitz and the Atom Bomb 28. Redefining the West After World War II A Dubious Peace, 1945-1949 The West and the World:  Decolonization and the Cold War The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the 1950s and 1960s The West:  Consensus, Consumption, and Culture Conclusion: New Definitions, New Divisions 29. The West in the Contemporary Era: New Encounters and Transformations Economic Stagnation and Political Change:  The 1970s and 1980s Revolution in the East In the Wake of Revolution Rethinking the West Conclusion: Where Is the West Now? Glossary Index  

About the Author :
Brian Levack received his Ph.D. from Yale and is the John Green Regents Professor in History at University of Texas at Austin. The winner of several teaching awards, Levack teaches a wide variety of courses on British and European history, legal history, and the history of witchcraft.  His books include The Civil Lawyers in England, 1603–1641: A Political Study (1973), The Formation of the British State: England, Scotland and the Union, 1603–1707 (1987), The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (3rd edition, 2006), and Witch-Hunting in Scotland: Law, Politics, and Religion (2008).   Edward Muir received his Ph.D. from Rutgers University, where he specialized in the Italian Renaissance and did archival research in Venice and Florence, Italy. He is now the Clarence L. Ver Steeg Professor in the Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University and former chair of the history department. At Northwestern he has won several teaching awards. His books include Civic Ritual in Renaissance Venice (1981), Mad Blood Stirring: Vendetta in Renaissance Italy (1993 and 1998), Ritual in Early Modern Europe (1997 and 2005), and The Culture Wars of the Late Renaissance: Skeptics, Libertines, and Opera (2007).   Meredith Veldman received a Ph.D. in modern European history, with a concentration in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain, from Northwestern University. As an Associate Professor of history and award-winning instructor at Louisiana State University, she teaches courses in nineteenth- and twentieth-century British history and twentieth-century Europe, as well as the second half of “Western Civ.” Veldman is also the author of Fantasy, the Bomb, and the Greening of Britain: Romantic Protest, 1945—1980 (1994).